When you hear about a congregation’s hospitality, you might picture people greeting one another after Sunday services.
Or you might picture people chatting around a table in the fellowship hall during a church potluck. Chances are, you wouldn’t picture people delivering dog toys and dish towels to a camper parked in the church’s parking lot.
When Hurricane Florence hit the eastern coast of the United States, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) and Presbyterian Women (PW) sent out a reminder that September was National Preparedness Month (NPM). Since 2014, through the Presbyterian Women Disaster Preparedness program, PDA and PW have collaborated to assist congregations and presbyteries to create disaster preparedness plans. Today, the program has more than 150 women from 68 presbyteries across the country, including 43 new trainers from the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women last month in Louisville, Kentucky.
My day started with a call alerting me of a death that had occurred at dawn and requesting the presence of a chaplain for comfort. I had met the family the previous week and knew they were accepting of the prognosis and nearing transition.
As I write this, the earth is busy producing its harvest, the weather is comfortable, and the next family holiday on the horizon is Thanksgiving.
Yet I’m keenly aware that as some of us have plenty of fresh and healthy food, many do not (and many do not have it year-round even if they do now, at harvest time). Even as the early fall weather is enjoyable where I live, other people are facing terrible impacts from natural disasters. And while being grateful for a warm family home that will hold holiday festivities, I realize that not everyone has four walls to call home or even safe shelter.
General secretaries and other high- ranking national church leaders from nine Asian countries gathered in early September to pave the way for a coherent and well-coordinated Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace (PJP) Asia Focus-2019.
First Presbyterian Church in Dickson, Tennessee, was in a rut. The pastor of more than 30 years had retired a year before, and the six-member session was keeping the church together. But they were barely surviving. It was all they could do to keep up with their regular tasks, let alone start any new creative ventures.
As a pastor, I am reminded weekly during Sunday’s prayers of people that life is not easy. I listen as those in the pew ask
for comfort, guidance, healing and hope. I listen, and then I pray for our laments to turn into songs of praise.
Mary had a song of praise — one that thanked God for looking favorably upon her and the plight of her people — and so in planning this year’s Advent devotional, I thought it was fitting to hear from Mary and to be reminded once again that God sees us, hears us and is with us always.
To Breathe Free, a short movie produced by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), was screened twice at the recent DC Shorts Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Produced and shot in D.C., the film follows the five-year saga of a Syrian family fleeing the war in Homs, Syria, to refugee camps in Jordan to beginning their new life in the nation’s capital. The 16-minute documentary, which focuses on the humanity of refugees, brings a perspective and voice that goes beyond the political rhetoric surrounding the ongoing refugee debate.
The Bible makes mention of the fact that we carry dual citizenship as citizens of the kingdom and citizens of the world. But these identities are not equal. If there is ever a conflict, the values of the kingdom must come first. There is a level of confusion in the minds of many Christians equating being a Christians with being patriotic, but they are not the same. Jesus said that anyone who loves mother or father, brother or sister, “is not worthy of me.” We are a God-first people who put the cares of God before all others. Therefore, we are made better citizens of the state because we are concerned about those who are not deemed worthy of attention.
World Community Day began in 1943 as a day for church women across denominations to study peace. After World War II, leaders of denominations felt that they should set aside a day for prayer and ecumenical study. The leaders thought that while many denominations were performing peace and justice work by themselves, having a day where they could study together would be beneficial to all. The theme of this year’s World Community Day is Reaching for Wholeness: In Harmony with God’s People.
